Inzamam-ul-Haq asks for seaming pitches for preparation

Karachi: Pakistan's new chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has demaded seaming pitches for preparation before the national team embarks on England's tour next month.

Taking cognizance of England's impressive Test results in home conditions, Inzamam has told the PCB's chief curator that players who attend the camp from May 29 in Lahore should be given fresh seaming pitches, similar to what they will encounter in England, for practice.

Inzamam ul Haq

Inzamam has also convinced the Pakistan Board to send the team two weeks earlier to England to set up an acclimatization camp in Hampshire County before the tour officially kicks off in late June.

"Inzi has gone through the records of the England team in Tests particularly in English conditions and is aware they thrashed India 3-1 in the summer of 2014 despite India boosting of a world class batting line-up," a PCB source told PTI.

He said that the chief selector has also taken into account the recent Test record of England on away tours and how they overcame South Africa in the Test series earlier thisyear.

The chief selector is keeping his fingers crossed that tained left arm pacer, Muhammad Aamir gets a visa to travel with the Pakistan team to England in June.

"The feeling is that while Pakistan¿s batting will be really tested out in English conditions the bowling has enough depth to cause problems for the English batsmen, something that other teams which have played against England have lacked notably when India lost in 2014," the source said.

Around 31 probables are currently attending a boot camp at the military academy in Kakul to raise fitness levels for a tough international season ahead of the Pakistan team. But from May 29 the action will shift to Lahore where the players will be joined by their new head coach, Mickey Arthur and they will have a week-long camp, focussing on cricket skills for the England tour.

"Inzi realises that Pakistan's biggest problem is that since 2012/13 winter when they toured South Africa, the Pakistani Test squad was confined to playing in the UAE where pitches did not test the batsmen," the source said.

"The chief selector knows that since Pakistan will be playing a Test series outside Asia and Middle East for the first time since the winter of 2012/13 how the Pakistani adapt to the English conditions will decide the series," he added.

Even though Pakistan are among the top three Test sides in the ICC rankings but critics have questioned the batting performance, mainly restricted to the friendly conditions in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.